The present invention is directed to a method and formulation to improve and stabilize the nonvolatile components of a fruit concentrate powder and to create low-hygroscopic dried fruit concentrate powder.
There are numerous methods of fixing (a term used synonymously herein with xe2x80x9cstabilizingxe2x80x9d) food ingredients in edible substrates. Materials commonly used as substrates include dextrins and hydrophilic colloids, e.g., gum arabic, gelatin, and maltodextrine. However, many of these materials result in a loss of flavor components (a xe2x80x9clow fixxe2x80x9d) and an increase in the caloric value of the end product due to the caloric content of the substrate itself and create a product that is highly hygroscopic. This characteristic substantially affects the flow capability of these ingredients. In addition, conventional methods require substantially more substrate to fix the end product. Thus, the fruit solids are distributed to a much larger amount of substrate, reducing flavor, taste, and scent.
In general, fixation is a process whereby non-volatile flavor, fragrance, and/or color components are complexed to a substrate and the components are protected from oxidative degradation. The substrate (i.e., the xe2x80x9cfixativexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfixing agentxe2x80x9d) is thoroughly mixed with the matter to be fixed, and the mixture is then dried to yield the fixed product. The mixture is dried using any number of conventional means, such as by spray drying, drum drying, or freeze drying. However, vacuum drying results in a non-hygroscopic, dry, flowable powder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,920 to Saleeb et al., describes several examples of fixing food ingredients, including fruit juice concentrates and oils, in magnesium salt substrates. The method uses as a fixative an aqueous solution of magnesium salts of edible mono-, di, or tri-basic acids, such as acetic, lactic, propionic, adipic, fumaric, malic, succinic, phosphoric, and citric acids. However, the resulting end product contains a relatively high magnesium content. For example, when fixing orange and lemon juice concentrates, the method of Saleeb et al. yields spray-dried formulations containing from 5 to 15% by weight magnesium fixative.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a formulation that results in higher yields of fruit solids in the dried powder and far lower magnesium content in the dried powder when spray dried, and in a low hygroscopic powder when vacuum dried, and could deliver a highly concentrated nutraceutical to the body when ingested.
The present invention is directed to a method of fixing fruit comprising blending the fruit with an aqueous solution comprising magnesium hydroxide in amount no greater than 5 percent by weight, an organic acid component and a stabililizer; and drying the fruit to produce either a non- or low-hygroscopic, dried fruit powder.
The present invention is also directed to a method of fixing a fruit juice concentrate comprising blending the fruit juice concentrate with an aqueous solution comprising magnesium hydroxide in amount less than 5 percent by weight, an organic acid component selected from the group consisting of citric acid and ascorbic acid, in an amount less than 5 percent by weight, and a stabililizer selected from the group consisting of guar gum and gum arabic in an amount sufficient to maintain the stability of the final product; and drying the fruit juice concentrate to produce a low- or non-hygroscopic, dried fruit powder.
The present invention is also directed to fruit ingredients produced by these methods.
The present invention is drawn to a fruit derivative stabilizing formula and methodology that preserves fruit juice concentrate at a high level of fruit solids while encapsulating flavor and color in a magnesium-based fixative present in reduced concentrations. For purposes of brevity only, the following discussion is limited to the preferred embodiment, the production of cranberry powder. However, the invention is not so limited; the process can be applied with equal success using any fruit juice or fruit juice concentrate starting material.
The method uses magnesium salts, preferably magnesium salts of citric or ascorbic acid, and a gum (arabic or guar), to stabilize (i.e., xe2x80x9cfixxe2x80x9d) the nonvolatile components and preserve the desirable properties of fruit concentrates. The preferred fruit concentrates are cranberry, blueberry, bilberry, elderberry, and chokeberry. The formulation increases the flow of product through all types of drying apparatuses, and yields a product having a higher retention of starting fruit solids than other methods. The method also uses far less magnesium salt than prior art methods and thus produces a fruit product with a smaller concentration of magnesium compounds.
Fruit concentrates are sold today largely as food ingredients rather than as dietary supplements and have greatly varying degrees of fruit solids from 50%-90%. The present method yields an end product containing at least 91%-94% fruit solids, with less than 4% magnesium content.
The method yields a low or substantially low hygroscopic, dried concentrate, increases the flow and yield of the drying process, and retains a high proportion, typically between 85% and 95% solids in the final product depending on the fruit dried.
The present formulation also functions beneficially with enhanced fruit fiber. The method may further include the step of mixing the liquid mixture prior to drying with natural cranberry fibers from which the juice has already been expressed. The soluble dietary fiber ingredient acts as a natural delivery system of the fixed fruit juice solids to the absorption/digestive tissues of the gut upon ingestion. Alternatively, the natural fiber-product can be dry blended with dried fruit concentrate to obtain similar results.